Southside Guitars — Local services in New York

I don't have any idea what THEY are talking about. I do not have "two young children" and I was calm & ready to do business on this day. Here is my experience at this store & my review:

I've been in the music biz on all coasts & nationwide for over 4 decades; showed, shopped & worked in every city, and know guitar & gear as well as anyone. I asked to see two specific guitars, makes & models & a very nice, attentive young lady was happy to search inventory & retrieve items. She was on her laptop working on it when another (sales/mgr/owner?) guy & tech dude came from the back, threatened me & my bandmates, demanded we leave in profanity laced epithets. Shocked, I told the young lady I intended to pay cash & money was no object. The guy behind the counter was shaking & angrily demanded we leave yet again. The lady & another employee who was assisting her appeared nervous all of a sudden & looked at me like "Don't ask..." and shrugged. I assumed the angry guy was their boss & they were used to this volatile behaviour from him, so we rolled out. We were fully masked, vaccinated (not requested), professional & friendly, and prepared to purchase guitars & perhaps additional equipment & accessories. Never have I been treated like this EVER. Especially in a music instrument store where my experiences are generally chill, if not fun. The angry "owner/mgr" guy appeared to either be keyed up, aggitated or stressed out by something else going on. The two employees who were helpful & happy to help seemed to have their hands tied & unable to continue their service for us by the agitated owner guy, so it was no bad on them whatsoever. The tech guy who came out of the back threatened us with physical violence. I have no idea what their problem was, it happened very fast & I can only assume it was a case of mistaken identity or prejudice. Or something else, perhaps illegal or dangerous happening on the premises. I only post this review as buyer beware of such service indiscretions, for we were not even allowed to LOOK at the merchandise we were interested in purchasing. From what I did see, there were some decent pieces within view. We will be passing next time we are in the area if we see either of those volatile characters present. I'm sorry to the nice, attentive employees that stood to make a considerable commission, if not a healthy tip, and referrals...as well as concert tickets. I encourage you both to seek...

UPDATE: My partner went to pick up the guitar, the technician again complained bitterly about the work he'd have to do (removing super glue from a prior repair attempt, which is frankly a fairly easy thing to do according to Google). My partner told him, "I guess we thought you guys did repairs for paying customers. Guess we were wrong..." I advise you to try somewhere else, or you'll be wasting your own time. these ppl are lazy at best, and a business that doesn't respect paying customers is definitely not worth supporting. and femmes beware - no proof, but my spidey sense says there could be some toxic masculinity at work in this joint.

Also the southside people seemed to think the guitar was trash, but it's actually a handmade Japanese guitar from a well respected craftsman. maybe they didn't know that or don't care to educate themselves on guitar makers outside of the western hemisphere? yikes...

ORIGINAL: The technician literally refused to fix my guitar...I guess he thought it was too hard to repair because he kept complaining about the work he'd have to do. Then when I said, "Okay, but please go ahead and do the work, I'll pay whatever" he seemed miffed for some reason and said that the guitar wasn't "worth fixing." I'm always anxious talking to music store dudes as a woman because they tend to be extremely condescending, and this was no exception. Srsly one of the more bewildering experiences I've had ¯(ツ)/¯. Oh and it took about two weeks of waiting for the guy to get back to me to get my business turned down....I wouldn't...

Had a really bizarre experience here today. Went to pick up my guitar from being set up. When the employee opened the case (which I also got from Southside Guitars, new, less than a year ago), one of the hinges popped off. Fair enough, no problem, but it should get fixed right? He tried to fix it and couldn't, and was about to just leave it, which I couldn't believe. I said, "Sorry, but I don't want to leave here with a broken case." He got really grouchy with me after that, and called someone else over, who had the same reaction and even told me "Well, all the other hinges work". I insisted he fix the case, which he did, though the hinge is janky now. Then I still ended up paying $140 for a set-up. Unbelievable behavior.

Updating after the response below: The latch was not broken when I brought it in. No one said anything about "repairing it for free", and the employee who broke it was surprised and caught off guard when it broke. I let 2 employees know in the moment that I was unsatisfied receiving a case with a broken hinge. They both acted rudely and suggested that what I was asking was unreasonable ("well, all the other hinges work"). If they had acted as anyone normally does when they make a mistake, there wouldn't be an issue. Anyone reading this, just see below to get an idea of what to expect at Southside Guitars. Rudeness and disrespect. Rather than do anything to take accountability and rectify the situation, they're just...